Saint of the Day: St. John Payne, 1532-1582; born in England, and was ordaine in Douai in 1576; he went back to England, and was arrested within a year; after release, he left England, but returned in 1579, and was again arrested after having been betrayed; he was imprisoned and tortured in the Tower of London, and finally condemned to death; one of the Martyrs of England and Wales
Feast of Saints Philip and James, apostles; little is known of James, the Son of Alphaeus, also known as "James the Lesser"; Philip came from Bethsaida, and took a long time to realize who Jesus was, as evidenced by his request, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied."
Memorial of St. Athanasius, 296-373; became bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, and continued the fight against Arianism, fought by his predecessor; he was exiled five times for his defense of the doctrine of Christ's divinity; almost all of his dogmatic and historical writings are polemic, directed against every aspect of Arianism
Optional Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker; instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955 to foster devotion to St. Joseph, and as a response to the "May Day" celebrations of the Communists
Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380; entered the Dominican Third Order at 18; became very influential, publicly; worked for the crusade against the Turks, and for Church unity during the Great Schism
Optional Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, 1803-1841; born in France, and joined the Marists after ordination; went as a missionary to Futuna Island, northeast of Fiji, where he learned the language and maintained a serene and gentle spirit, plus endless patience; when the chieftain's son asked to baptized, the chieftain ordered Fr. Peter to be clubbed to death; but within two years after Peter Chanel's death, the entire island became Catholic, and has remained so
Saint of the Day: St. Zita, 1212-1278; became a housekeeper for a rich weaver in Lucca, Italy, at the age of 12, and remained with the family for the rest of her life; found time every day to attend mass and recite prayers, as well as carry out her household duties; her employers eventually gave Zita free reign over her working schedule, and she busied herself with viists to the sick and imprisoned; sought out by important people; patroness of domestic workers
Saint of the Day: St. Cletus; third Bishop of Rome, succeeding St. Linus; reigned from 76 to his death in 89 A.D.; styled by authoritative sources as a martyr; buried near St. Linus on the Vatican
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